Captain Issues 12.2

[Moors-Battlemaster]

Yellow line is too overpowered, is that an issue?

[Elrantiri]

Yellow line is too overpowered, is that an issue?

The Yellow line is not overpowered outside of Moors. The combination of Audacity and SotD is extremely overpowered, fix how those two stacks (or make a Moors-only nerf to SotD) and I think LoM Captains will be much more balanced in moors.

[Laggus]

That would be better aimed towards Jinjaah. I don't really have much to do with the Ettenmoors. I'm not too familiar with how those damage types function compared to the others.

I think maybe you should know with all due respect. I believe I now know why the Moors go down some ridiculous routes with some classes.

[gripply]

The former legendary trait quests now give players a trait point. You get Improved Motivating Speech while leveling now. Sounds like it's just a coincidence you got it after completing said quest.

Thanks for the clarification on that! I know I first saw it at level 47 (+47) but I'm not very observant when on a skirmish run or finishing quests like a demon. Do you know what level it changes?

I read the other "traits" carefully and found them in the various blue/red/yellow spec lines. So I don't expect that the book deeds now award "Oathbreaker's" or any other ability anymore. Actually, I'm not sure you can get those abilities at level 50ish anymore, even if you spec in a pure single color, with no deviations, but I guess I can respect one of them and find out if I can reach the bottom. But I'm also not any kind of expert, maybe they're not all the pinnacle skills, just the Red spec line.

I got nice broadcast messages when I completed the book deeds saying "You gained 1 Class Trait Point" so that was helpful since it happened between levels, and mid-dungeon. I was duoing a 3-man with a Champion level 60 at the time and it really helped to get 2 points into In Harm's Way while halfway through. That's a very helpful gambit IF you can kill the mob before LS expires. TG for the legacy, lol. A mini would've been most welcome in our group right about then.

[gripply]

Because our ranged slot is banner v armaments, so it's either buff us or the herald, and honestly, the herald is losing that one.

Here's to hoping the issue is resolved in U13.

I did do some testing on this. I'm only level 50-53 at the time of this conversation, but I do have a maxed tailor, and made the best armaments I could find for my Captain at this point. Until this comment, I hadn't really focused on this aspect because I figured I could make them at any point when it "became necessary" (like when I started running Turtles).

Using the armaments on the archer nerfed my dps a bit but made it so I didn't have to occupy much of my time with shield brother skills unless he was down in power or something specifically targeted him. In solo, this was a complete non-issue and will probably be my new MO.

Using the armaments on the herald doesn't seem to help as much even in solo, maybe because if you're at melee range, you simply take more damage than AoE? I couldn't say. It didn't seem to offer the same benefit tradeoff.

In fellowships, the armaments DO NOT stop the sudden death of heralds, even if they're being shield brother-ed. With crests, they seems to do slightly better, but it could be random. Not sure on that. Armaments give a herald about 1700 armor at this point? I'm not logged in and can't just look at it. No other stats are given. Shield brother give him more stats. In another thread someone mentioned that pets don't have basic att's like Might, they simply have Morale, etc.. I'm not an expert on that. But it does seem like with three layers of protection: crest, shield brother, and armaments, the pet still simply dies even when NOT fighting mobs in 6-man instances.

It could be the heals. Some of the instances clearly have mobs that target healers. The loremaster pets don't heal, so they wouldn't be targeted for any reason other than dps. Just a guess, but I did catch an orc walk right up to my passive herald and attack during a fight... from behind us. Could've been random though.

[gripply]

Some classes get a damage buff for a particular weapon -- for Captains, of course, that's the Halberd.

That passive bonus is distinct from any special buff inherent to the weapon type. (Example: Swords give a 1% parry buff, always.) The inherent bonus for halberds used to be a 2% threat buff. With Captains being a (mostly) non-tanking class, a lot of cappies went with a sword (after traiting the Man sword bonus). With only one class permitted to use halberds, and that class largely opting not to, halberds became an endangered species.

So, the halberd threat bonus was replaced -- it's now a 2% auto-attack crit buff. (Hover over your halberd to see it in the tool-tip.) This means you can get slightly more DPS with a halberd than with a 2H sword, *and* you don't have to use up a racial trait.

So I think for cappies, halberds are probably the 2H weapon of choice now.

It is for me even for aesthetic reasons, but I noticed that if you want the right legacies for your playstyle, you should put your dwarf tools to good use and buy DIFFERENT weapons plus ONE halberd (possibly two if you're going to switch different spec's and legacies). The reason is that I purchased 3 halberds and they all pretty much had the same beginning legacies on them. Different weapons also seem to have different beginning skills on them. Maybe one or two changed here or there. If you're looking to save up all the legacies you want for your "après quest" LI, dwarf tools will help only if you barter for the different types of weapons because there are assumptions about which weapon is for "tank play" and which is for "dps play" and which is for "backup heals" play, etc...

For example, I doubt I'll find a halberd with any kind of Noble Mark buff on it, it seems always to be Telling Mark, which I will certainly use, but optimally I want a bank of both legacies or possibly two different weapons with different legacies. Thought I'd mention that because figuring out the LI system can take a while.

Thank you for explaining the threat aspect. I do remember something about threat a long time ago. The memory jogged. I do like to be able to control threat myself depending on my spec. I wouldn't want to be using yellow spec in a group with a guardian for example, and if my only LI was a halberd, and halberds caused even a 2% threat, that would be an irritation.

[Elrantiri]

It is for me even for aesthetic reasons, but I noticed that if you want the right legacies for your playstyle, you should put your dwarf tools to good use and buy DIFFERENT weapons plus ONE halberd (possibly two if you're going to switch different spec's and legacies). The reason is that I purchased 3 halberds and they all pretty much had the same beginning legacies on them. Different weapons also seem to have different beginning skills on them. Maybe one or two changed here or there. If you're looking to save up all the legacies you want for your "après quest" LI, dwarf tools will help only if you barter for the different types of weapons...

The legacies you get are random. Any LI starts with 3 Major legacies. There are 8 Major legacies in total for Captain Weapons. Therefore, the probability that 3 LIs look pretty much alike is quite big.

...because there are assumptions about which weapon is for "tank play" and which is for "dps play" and which is for "backup heals" play, etc...

Swords have a bonus that gives 1% extra parry, Greatswords have a bonus that gives 2% extra parry. That makes swords good for tanking. Halberds have +2% auto attack critical chance, which makes them a tiny bit better for DPS.

For example, I doubt I'll find a halberd with any kind of Noble Mark buff on it, it seems always to be Telling Mark, which I will certainly use, but optimally I want a bank of both legacies or possibly two different weapons with different legacies. Thought I'd mention that because figuring out the LI system can take a while.

That is because Noble Mark legacy cannot exist on a weapon. Noble Mark legacy can only be on your Emblem.
I suggest you take a look at the first post in this thread. Some of the last bits in the first post is an overview of all the Captain legacies:
https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...ummary-Captain

[gripply]

The legacies you get are random. Any LI starts with 3 Major legacies. There are 8 Major legacies in total for Captain Weapons. Therefore, the probability that 3 LIs look pretty much alike is quite big.



Swords have a bonus that gives 1% extra parry, Greatswords have a bonus that gives 2% extra parry. That makes swords good for tanking. Halberds have +2% auto attack critical chance, which makes them a tiny bit better for DPS.



That is because Noble Mark legacy cannot exist on a weapon. Noble Mark legacy can only be on your Emblem.
I suggest you take a look at the first post in this thread. Some of the last bits in the first post is an overview of all the Captain legacies:
https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...ummary-Captain

Thanks! That will keep me busy for a while.

[Almagnus1]

In fellowships, the armaments DO NOT stop the sudden death of heralds, even if they're being shield brother-ed. With crests, they seems to do slightly better, but it could be random. Not sure on that. Armaments give a herald about 1700 armor at this point? I'm not logged in and can't just look at it. No other stats are given. Shield brother give him more stats. In another thread someone mentioned that pets don't have basic att's like Might, they simply have Morale, etc.. I'm not an expert on that. But it does seem like with three layers of protection: crest, shield brother, and armaments, the pet still simply dies even when NOT fighting mobs in 6-man instances.

Eh, perhaps the herald stats could use another pass or two then?

[aardnebby]

Eh, perhaps the herald stats could use another pass or two then?

Lol no kidding. I guess you stopped following the class changes thread?

1. It is apparent that Heightened Allies is basically worthless. Let me break it down as to why (all figures are approximate):

A red line captain is capable of 2.5-4k sustained DPS. A herald of war (adding 2% to the captain) gains approximately 40 dps with 2 points in it, an archer double that but without the 2% bonus to the captain. 2 points saved and put into Dignified Spectacle boosts the captains personal DPS AND outgoing healing by 1% (25-40 dps) without the costs of a herald (Micromanaging targets, accidental aggro etc), as you can simply leave your herald of war in passive mode, maybe clicking it for a self heal occasionally or triggering it when you have time.

This confirms an earlier post in the beta forums I made where I pointed out the only way "hybrid" builds are going to be efficient is if a trait is so bad that two points in it are worth less than 1 point in an out of line trait. Personally I am not complaining, I still think that turning the captain into a pet class is an awful idea.

[Elrantiri]

Have anyone tested if Tactics stack in 12.2? The lack of tactic stacking in 12.1 is an issue I dislike very much.

EDIT: They don't seem to stack in 12.2.

[Almagnus1]

Lol no kidding. I guess you stopped following the class changes thread?

Or more accurately, sitting on the sidelines while I gathered components to rebuild my desktop so that I can play LotRO again.......